Bone plates have been used for many years in the field of orthopedics for the repair of broken bones and are well known in the art. One example of such a bone plate is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,486 to Weaver, et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference. Such bone plates function well in most instances, and fracture healing occurs more predictably than if no plate were used. In some instances, however, improper installation, implant failure, infection or other conditions such as patient non-compliance with prescribed post-operative treatment may contribute to compromised healing of the fracture, as well as increased risk to the health of the patient. Health care professionals currently use non-invasive methods such as x-rays to examine fracture healing progress and assess condition of implanted bone plates. However, x-rays may be inadequate for accurate diagnoses. They are costly, and repeated x-rays may be detrimental to the patient's and health care workers' health. In some cases, non-unions of fractures may go clinically undetected until implant failure. Moreover, x-rays may not be used to adequately diagnose soft tissue conditions or stress on the implant. In some instances, invasive procedures are required to diagnose implant failure or infections early enough that appropriate remedial measures may be implemented.
Therefore there is a need for an orthopaedic implant that can provide precise and accurate information to doctors and patients concerning the status of the implant, progress of fracture healing, and the surrounding tissue without the need for x-rays or invasive procedures.